‘Kodachrome’ star Jason Sudeikis likes to take a photograph in the digital age

Ed Harris, Elizabeth Olsen, and Jason Sudeikis take a road trip to new York in “Kodachrome.”

Photo: Netflix

Jason Sudeikis stars as Matt, a man long estranged from his famous photographer father, Ben (Ed Harris), in his new movie “Kodachrome.” With the news that the single lab that still processes the eponymous film is about to stop doing so, Matt and Ben reach an uneasy detente as they travel by car from New York to Kansas to deliver Matt’s last rolls of the film.

Along the way, Ben complains bitterly about the brave new digital world in which people take lots of pictures that they never even bother to print. And as much as the movie is a relationship movie about a father and a son, it is also a movie about the digital-analog divide, something with which Sudeikis can identify.

“You’re talking about someone that shoots film probably 75 percent of the time, being lucky enough to live in New York where there’s still laboratories that will do development for you,” the actor, 42, says during a recent phone call. “Then plays pinball, even though I own an Xbox and a PS4. I’m in a tangible, analog phase of my own personal life.

“It’s funny having little kids, a little boy specifically, because he’s at an age where he can handle a little bit more complex actions,” adds the father of two with partner Olivia Wilde, including an 18-month-old daughter. “Playing records with him versus just tapping on a screen. To go through the steps of selecting a vinyl album and putting them on there. He can use Sonos (a WiFi-enabled sound system) already. He knows how to use Sonos at 3½, almost 4.”

Like Matt, Sudeikis comes from an artistic lineage. His uncle is Norm from “Cheers,” actor George Wendt. More directly related to “Kodachrome,” his great-grandfather was photographer Tom Howard, who surreptitiously and famously captured the 1928 electric-chair execution of killer Ruth Snyder at Sing Sing Prison. Howard died in 1961, 14 years before his great-grandson was born, so Sudeikis chalks up the love of photography they share to nature over nurture. But that passion was one of the things that spurred him to take on the project.

“It resonated with me that much more,” says Sudeikis. “Feeling like, ‘Oh, I really want to do this. I really like this. I like the metaphor here. I like the world.’ Then being from Kansas was equally as big of a thing. It could have been about a painter and it could have been driving to Missouri, and I probably still would have done it.”

“Kodachrome” gives Sudeikis — who started as an improv comic before becoming a “Saturday Night Live” writer and eventual cast member — a chance to stretch his dramatic muscles. And to use his imagination. In contrast to Matt, Sudeikis is close to his father. And unlike Matt and Ben, who both have broken marriages behind them, Sudeikis’ parents have enjoyed a long marriage.

“For me, it was as much about the feeling of being misunderstood from a distance in the way that my character misunderstands Ed’s character,” he says. “The thing that resonated with me the most is probably as relevant a theme in today’s social political culture as it has ever been, and that’s just the idea of empathy.

“I couldn’t really pull from being a father. I mean, God forbid I ever leave my boy in the lurch like Ben does to Matt. I couldn’t foresee that ever happening, but I’m not as damaged as Ben. At least I don’t think so, not yet.”

Certainly, a father-son vibe seems to have developed between Harris and Sudeikis. Soon after they started shooting, Harris showed up to the set with a gift for his co-star. As observant as he is thoughtful, Harris brought Sudeikis a left-handed mitt so the two could play catch between scenes. Baseball is an apt metaphor for an actor who realizes that acting opposite the four-time Oscar nominee puts him in the big leagues.

“I don’t know if you can tell I’m smiling when I think of him, because he’s just about the work,” says Sudeikis. “He gives a damn every single day, every single time. I mean, he’s a joy. He’s intense. ... When someone like Ed, who is already sort of attached to the movie, stays attached to it after I come onto it, that’s flattering as hell to me.”